


Summer Lover

by grossnoona



Series: ESO2019 [6]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Short One Shot, alternative universe, i guess?, its not specified just maohokke are in a boarding school i guess, thats it, unbeta bc im dead inside ok, we out here talking abt some sad summer relationships that never last
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 13:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grossnoona/pseuds/grossnoona
Summary: According to Isara Mao, summer is bright, hot, tiring but thrilling. Worst of all, it's alsoshort-lived.Whether he liked it or not, summer is always short-lived. It leaves Mao hoping for autumn to come any sooner but also wanting summer to stay as long as it can.Honestly, that's what it's like being with Subaru.Mao can't help but think that way.[ESO/Prompt: Summer Love]





	Summer Lover

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Grossnoona here!  
I never wrote angst for subamao so here I am and hm this is a little sad  
I'm soz I just wanted to write something a little sad even if it wasn't much  
summer love is always seen as something fleeting and short which honestly sucks but then again, most relationship are, right?  
Being in love is always a risky gamble because you never know how long it'll last and you always end up it lasts longer than it actually did  
anyway I hope you enjoy it!!

Summer comes in two feelings, Mao believes.

The hot sticky feel of sweat running down your body as your friends loudly call for you at the beach. Shielding your face from the sun with your hand, hoping to God that you don’t get cancer by your 60s or 70s. It’s also the sticky cold feel of eating ice cream, carefully making poor attempts of salvaging that ice cream that will definitely drip down to the sand. It’s always too bright; the clothes, the food, the sun and everything else. Mao would say he personally loves summer but having it every day, now that’s hell.

There’s also the late colder nights where Mao finds himself running around open areas, lighting up sparkles and fireworks. Laughter is in the air, the smell of fried food and fizzy sweet drinks too. It’s loud and funny as he sits on a bench near the parking lot, admiring the scenery. It’s always some form of disaster, watching Subaru chase Makoto with a sparkler. Hokuto reprimanding him as Anzu records the entire fiasco. He’d see his other friends joining in the fun, all taking turns in chasing each other or making random shapes for pictures.

Summer always carries such a youthful feeling.

Mao sometimes wishes summer was permanent but he knows he just means the holiday and not the actual weather. He’d do anything for autumn to come but autumn days aren’t like this. They’re not like summer morning where Subaru shivers a little, talking about how summer may be extremely hot during the afternoon and onwards but it remains cold as spring in the morning. They’re not like the summer days where he can hear Subaru animatedly tell him about big stretches of sand as they ride the train to said beaches. They’re not like summer evenings; sitting in tiny restaurants, holding hands and laughing at stupid adventures that either of them had during the small weeks where they were separated. They’re not like summer nights where everyone sneaks out of their homes, jokingly playing with sparklers or eating late-night snacks. Laughter in the summer air as they run back home before the sun and their parents rise.

Mao thinks it’s honestly pitiful.

They say summer love is the best type of love but also the shortest type of love.

It’s the type of love that as the days of the months go by, the smaller the light becomes. Mao honestly wishes it’s not that way but he sees it. He personally sees it a little in Subaru . It’s unfair really, he wants to say as Subaru leans on Mao on their commute home from another fever trip to some obscure ramen shop that Mao didn’t even know exist until Subaru told him. It’s delicious but it wasn’t easy to digest when he hears Subaru talk about other people in the same tone he talks about Mao. It almost feels like that spark that Mao had always loved faded slowly away as his bowl of ramen started getting cold.

It hurts but he has long accepted it after that trip.

Mao clings onto every single waking moment of Subaru’s summer love. He finds himself counting the number of stations left before they reach their station. He finds himself counting the hours, minutes and seconds left before they part ways at the crossing to their respective neighbourhoods. He finds himself, lying in bed, counting the days before summer ends.

_ Before this love ends _ .

He doesn’t want it to end but it will anyway. Whether he likes it or not, all of these fleeting summer memories he shares with Subaru will all end.

The end of summer ends in the sound of fireworks being shot up and bursting into the sky like flowers. The end of summer smells like fried foods, sugary sweets and canned drinks that Mao can never recall who got what. The end of summer looks like Subaru who smiles widely amongst the red and white lanterns as he guides Mao through the festival by the hand. Mao holds onto him tightly as Subaru calls over his friends. The way he tries to keep that stupid mask of his away from his face, the way he had decided to wear a yukata to match Mao, the way he shouts in agony as he fails to catch goldfish and smiles brightly at the sight of cotton candy that Mao buys to cheer him up for losing for the umpteenth time; Subaru really is the true definition of summer to Mao. It’s unfair that unlike Subaru, Mao feels some form of sadness as the night goes on.

Mao tries to suppress that sad feeling as much as possible.

He doesn’t want to cry like those kids who cry at the fact that they broke their  _ poi _ . He doesn’t want to cry like them at all, but he can’t help feeling such ways. Losing everything after putting so much effort into it. It sucks, honestly. He doesn’t want to cry yet, he can cry later. He’ll smile for Subaru for now. Even if this relationship already feels like a sparkler edging closer to its tips, he’ll smile for Subaru.

The fireworks are bright and beautiful. Mao marvels at the sight of them as Subaru shouts happily. Mao can feel Subaru clutch his hand tightly, he couldn’t help but return the same tightness. Summer really is almost over. After this, Mao has to get going. He can’t put off packing anymore, he has to pack and head back to school. As much as Mao would consider himself a good honours student, just for tonight, he’ll turn that part of him off. He wants to cherish this small moment with Subaru.

Subaru’s kiss feels soft and sweet.

Mao can’t tell if it’s just his head doing that or maybe Subaru ate too much sugary food, either way, Mao relishes in it. He laughs when Subaru complains how Mao must’ve drank another can of coffee since he tasted bitter. Subaru continues how it’s unfair that Mao is too hard to resist when it comes to kissing. Mao laughs as Subaru goes on about every summer day he has had with Mao. It’s honestly strange, watching Subaru be melancholic. He never struck as that type to Mao, personally.

“You’re going back, right?” Subaru asks.

The festival has long finished. They had wished their friends goodnight and goodbye. They were talking about spending one last day together before Mao goes back to that painful boarding school of his. They were already on their way back to that crossing before never seeing each other in the next week. All of them, maybe packing to go back to school or maybe quickly finishing any leftover homework that was left untouched thanks to their misadventures. Hearing Subaru ask that question, Mao suddenly wanted to say no but he can’t.

“I have to,” Mao answers.

Subaru looks down in disappointment. Like a dog with his tail between his legs, he looks ashamed that he had to ask that question. Mao doesn’t see how it’s a bad question, it is, however,  _ a pretty sad question _ . He can’t help but feel disappointed at that answer too.

“I’m sorry.”

Mao doesn’t know what else to say. He feels bad for having to say goodbye to Subaru, he really does. It’s inevitable, a part of him says. There’s always a way to stay together, another says. Does it even work, Mao wants to ask those parts of him who do nothing but argue about whether or not if he should selfishly, desperately salvage this summer love or let it go like how everyone else tells him to. It honestly sends him into a slight turmoil despite the boy in question is right there, back turned, kicking pebbles as they walk down the ever so familiar path home.

“Don’t apologise, it’s not your fault. You’ve got a school to look after, right?” Subaru smiles weakly when he says that.

Mao tries to jab him back that he doesn’t have a school to look after. He’s merely a treasurer but yes, he is part of the student council so he does have some responsibility to look after the school. Even if it’s annoying to go back to, he still has to attend to his duties. If he wants to keep himself there, that is.

Subaru asks him if he’ll be back for the next summer and Mao nods.

For a moment, time moves very slowly. Almost painfully slow. Mao hates it how it only started picking up the pace when Subaru holds Mao’s hands close to his mouth. He kisses it lightly and Mao feels himself turn red at the sight of it. Really, what on earth is Subaru doing? Mao doesn’t want to know.

“I’m sorry for dragging you on like this,” Subaru suddenly says

Mao thinks it’s crazy how quick it is to go from red to white. He might hit a new record in something obscure like that, Mao thought. He might even tell Hokuto that on their commute back to school. Who knows really but right now, none of that mattered. Something far more important, far more painful was happening.

_ Subaru was breaking up with Mao _ .

Mao wished his guts were never right. He hated how Subaru begged for apologises for dragging Mao out every day of summer, forcing him to his antics and just doing so much for Subaru alone. Subaru talks about how he feels sorry for falling out of love even though it seemed merely impossible to fall out of love with someone like Mao. Subaru spills tears near their crossing, asking himself and Mao why that such a thing could happen to them. Mao wonders the same too.

Mao hugs him and rubs circles on his back as Subaru cries.

It’s too late for anyone to be around so for this small moment, it really feels like there was no one in this world but them and it’s almost pitiful to know that even in such a state, Subaru could fall out of love with Mao. Mao thinks both of them were selfish for wanting to save such a fleeting relationship. Just like summer, their love would never last as long as they wished.

It was just one of those things that they have to accept as stupid kids that think everything will last for eternity.

Mao comforts Subaru about the relationship. Even if it’s broken, Mao doesn’t want to stop being with Subaru. As friends, he can deal with that. Even if that means they’ll bury their relationship underneath them or throw it into the sea, Mao is fine with that. Maybe they’ll make shitty jokes about the relationship after the wounds heal. Either way, Mao is not going to let go of Subaru. He hopes the other knows that.

He wants to be a little selfish even if the healing takes a while.

Mao sends Subaru home, he doesn’t mind the detour. It wouldn’t hurt his legs, he can handle it just fine. Besides, it’ll clear some parts of his head as he accepts it. Mao tries to cheer Subaru up by talking about useless nonsense that Mao personally doesn’t get. Subaru appreciates it and calls Mao too kindhearted for the world. He laughs at such a statement and calls Subaru too soft and simple for wanting to give Mao a new compliment every five seconds into the conversation.

Mao kisses Subaru goodbye and goodnight.

It leaves Subaru red and surprised. Mao laughs at the sight as Subaru stutters out goodnight before heading into his house. Mao waves him before turning around. Even if it’s all over, one last kiss couldn’t hurt. He knows it wouldn’t hurt because it didn’t feel as though Subaru was too hard to pull away from. He was easy to let go because he wasn’t going to stray far from Mao. Mao knows that to be rest assured.

The end of summer and the start of autumn feels really different. It’s when the cold starts to be almost unbearable with simple t-shirts and jeans. It’s when Mao needs to return to the comforts of his sweaters and hoodies as Hokuto calls him ridiculously casual despite hailing from such a respectable school. Mao can’t say anything about how Hokuto dresses since he’s always dressed too formally. Can’t he loosen it up a little, Mao thought as he quirked an eyebrow at the other who looks away from him in annoyance. Mao can’t help but laugh a little.

Their friends are there, waiting for their train with them. All of them, they want to say goodbye for the  _ very last time _ which included the goodbye as the train takes them off.

Subaru is there, he’s less tensed from the other outings. Mao has let that relationship grow into something else. Even if it’s hard to not want to take one step closer and close that small gap between them, he understands that things aren’t the same anymore. Soon enough, Mao was happy enough with small handholds and hugs from Subaru. It seemed the other was the same which was good to hear. It seemed he had gotten himself blushing and stuttering every time Mao wondered if he had found anyone else.

“So, are you really not going to tell me who this new crush is?” Mao asks, he’s leaning against his luggage as Subaru quickly shakes his head. He really wasn’t going to open up, huh? What a shame, Mao was going to cheer him all the way.

Subaru says he wants Mao to only help him out when he really sees a chance. He doesn’t want to get his and Mao’s hopes up. What a weird way to phrase it, Mao thought. He makes it sound as though they are one person and they both like this person when in reality, it wasn’t. Maybe Subaru was trying to protect himself and Mao but really, Mao is willing to hear. It didn’t matter, Mao assured. Mao was fine to hear who Subaru’s new interest was.

“Do I know them?”

Subaru does a weird head shake; that definitely means  _ yes _ .

“Is this person cute?”

Subaru nodded excitedly, his hands clasped together.

“Is this person--”  _ like me? _

Mao stops himself right before he says those last two words. He wasn’t going to ruin this excitement, he doesn’t want to hurt Subaru’s feelings. He wants Subaru to be as happy and bright as summer so he opts to shake his head and apologises for trying to pry so much out of Subaru. He tells Subaru to text him who it is when he finally has the courage to. Subaru tilts his head when Mao abruptly ends the questioning just like that. Mao just hopes the other doesn’t try to connect the dots and realise the ugly question that led to such a halt.

“ _ Ah _ .”

Subaru did anyway. He may look dumb but he isn’t at all, Mao can say that.

“No, he isn't like you at all. In fact, I think he’s  _ a lot different from you _ .”

It was now Mao’s turn to tilt his head. Mao has to admit, he has always been bad at figuring out Subaru’s type. All he could understand was that Subaru liked redheads but that’s about it. It seemed he just liked redheads who he could tease him. That was honestly a bit of an overgeneralization but for Subaru’s sake, Mao won’t comment. He just sighs and notes how he can never get ahold of Subaru’s type at all.

Just as Mao makes another attempt to pry more information about this new crush of Subaru, Hokuto calls him over. It seemed the train was arriving soon and he didn’t want Mao to miss it.

_ Mao always had poor timing _ .

The two of them join as they wait at the platform for the train to finally arrive. All of them exchange hugs and laughter before finally boarding the godforsaken train. It took the train long enough to arrive, Mao thought. He’ll miss this place, Mao thought.

Mao gives Subaru one big hug before finally leaving.

“Hey, Sarii” Subaru calls out.

The train is edging closer.  _ (Mao can’t help but hum and act like it wasn’t) _

“If you find someone,” Subaru continues.

The train is almost here.  _ (Mao can’t help but feel cold when he hears those words) _

“Tell me, okay?” Subaru smiles softly.

The train arrives and he hears the flood of people come out of the train. _ (Mao can’t hear any more of Subaru’s words coming out of his mouth but he sees it move) _

Mao boards the train as Subaru waves energetically at him. Mao sits in front of Hokuto and wonders why Subaru said those things. Did he think that Mao would find someone too? Mao wonders if such things were possible when he tries to remember all the piles of work he has to do as soon as he arrives back to school. He doesn’t think so. Maybe Subaru was being hopeful. Who knows really.

“You look like you’re a mess, Isara.” Hokuto was right. He did look like a mess, he feels like a mess. He might as well be a mess right now. He didn’t know how to feel about those words Subaru said. He didn’t know what exactly were they but he felt cold when he saw them mouthed out. Mao finds himself far more distracted by those haunting words than actually focusing on any of the messages from his peers at school.

He couldn’t help but wonder what those words were.

He feels as though those words will haunt him till the next summer comes.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be upfront right now, I _kind of_ don't have much of an idea who Subaru has a crush on either??  
So I leave it up to you, I guess?  
Also I wonder if I'll write another part since it kind of looks like there's another part, right?  
I should probs do it after eso ends lol (when I have more time to think about this honestly)  
Thank you for reading!!


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